Benin

The soap sent to Benin was distributed to three ongoing projects: Women’s Life Skills Classes, Club PfP, and Project Dado, which is an orphan sponsorship program.

The Women’s Life Skills Classes are taught in two villages with approximately 200 women in the classes. It is an 18 month program where they are taught on several topics including, prevention and causes of malaria, food poisoning, proper food preparation, child care, personal finance, personal hygiene, importance of girl’s education, and community service. These women are uneducated and many cannot read or write, so through this program they are being empowered to change the lives of their current family and the future generations of their family. Soap is distributed during hygiene education classes, where women and girls learn how to wash their hands properly, and why to value soap for the rest of their lives.

The second project is Club PfP, which is a program for middle and high school aged students. There are 200 students involved with this program as well. In this program, the students focus on improving their education through study groups, they are taught on various topics such as hygiene, finance, technology, community service, and they play soccer. Our soap is used in the same manner with Club PfP as with the women’s classes. This is a powerful program because we are pouring into the future of Benin. These kids desire to know more and do more than previous generations and we have the opportunity to nurture, develop, and increase that desire.

The third project is Project Dado, the orphan sponsorship program that includes 60 children. These children have been orphaned by one or more of their parents and currently live with other family members. Each month they are provided with food for the family. They receive school supplies and uniforms, their school is paid for, and they receive a yearly physical, along with any medicine throughout the year. A hygiene seminar was conducted, teaching basic hygiene and its purpose emphasizing soap’s role in disease prevention.